TOW Ross and Chandler in College
by Liz Huisman
Summary: “You’re a PALEONTOLOGY major?" | Ross/Chandler friendship


**Title:  **TOW Ross and Chandler in College (1/1)

**Author:**  Liz Huisman

**Rating:  **PG-13

**Spoilers:**  Scratch that.

**Disclaimer:**  Not that these disclaimers are legally binding… I don't own Ross and Chandler.  I do own Andy, and that's a very depressing thought.  

**Author's Note:**  Goodness.  This is my first Friends' fic.  It may not be the greatest piece of work I've ever done, but I'm still trying to find the right voice for them.  For this story, I'm also going no-romo, because, after all, the show's called "Friends," not "Lovers."  (I'm into the relationships, don't get me wrong CHANDLERANDMONICAFOREVER, just not touching on them here.)  I'm exploring the friendship of Ross and Chandler here.  That's it.  And, you should know that I will never, nor have I ever been a college guy, and that I'm assuming white boys knew how to swear in the late 80s.  

**Summary:**  "You're a PALENONTOLOGY major?"

…

"You're a PALENONTOLOGY major?" Chandler Bing asked his new roommate incredulously.

"Yes, Chandler, I'm going to be a paleontologist.  Lay off."

Chandler couldn't believe that the housing office had actually stuck him in a cramped dorm room with a guy whose major involved dinosaurs.  "All the dinosaurs are dead, you know," he said pointedly, not being able to resist making a jab at the rather geeky Ross Geller, who just glared back at him.

"You don't date much, do you?" Chandler asked, though he already figured an answer of no.

Ross ignored him and went back to unpacking his boxes of stuff.  He was also surprised that the housing office placed him with someone like… Chandler Bing… after the last three roommate fiascos.  Freshman year hadn't gone well, and the first half of sophomore year hadn't been any better.  He'd been hoping for at least _one_ good roommate those first two years, until he wasn't required to live on-campus anymore, but it didn't look like that was going to happen.  

He looked over at Chandler, who was also unpacking boxes.  _'That guy's probably got tons of friends.  And a hot girlfriend on top of it all,'_ he thought, rather bitterly.  He couldn't help but be instantly jealous, because he didn't have any of that.  Friends, a few... girls, practically none.  He wasn't a stranger to girls, but he and dating weren't on the best terms.  

He watched as Chandler started putting up posters of football and naked girls.  Looking down into his own box, filled with books on dinosaurs and fossils, oldies CDs, and some random science magazines, he sighed dejectedly.  _'Reason number seven hundred and five why no one wants to bother with me.'_

…

Ross hadn't even reached the door of his room yet when he head the sound of loud music.  It was eleven o'clock on a Monday night, almost a month into term.  He had just gotten off work, he had an eight am class the next morning, and he was not in the mood to deal with any more shit that night.  

He walked in, and was greeted with a few drunken looks.  Chandler and three other guys that he didn't know were sitting around, drinking beer.  One of them started laughing.

"Hey, it's dinosaur boy!" he exclaimed with a slur through his drunken laughter.  Ross threw him a glare and sat down on his bed to take off his shoes.

"God, Chandler… you ended up with such a loser for a roomie!" the second, closest to Chandler, said loudly, as the first, closest to Ross, started to cough.  

"Hey, you okay?" Chandler asked his friend.  Without even replying, his friend threw up, all over the floor, and all over Ross's shoes and hands.

"Oh, damn!  Damnit!" Ross yelped, grabbing the nearest towel, and frantically wiping at his hands.  He looked up at Chandler, who was laughing along with his friends.  

Chandler saw the expression on Ross's face, and felt a pang of guilt.  He stopped laughing.  "Hey, Mike, Rick… let's pick up Andy and get out of here.  We don't need someone spoiling our fun."  Even if he did feel a little sorry for his roommate, he wasn't going to let his friends know what he thought.  

"Oh, come on, Chandler!" exclaimed Mike, the one who had been closest to Chandler.  "Maybe, if we're nice, he'll tell us all about his fossils and shit!"

Ross ignored the anger that was building inside of him, focusing his attention instead on cleaning himself up, no matter how much it made his stomach turn.  

"Seriously, guys!"  Chandler was almost begging.  "We can go crash Bill's sleeping party upstairs, anything.  Just to get out of here."  He threw a pointed look at Ross, but it wasn't what Ross expected.  It was more a look of sympathy than of hatred.

"I don't think Andy's really going anywhere," observed Rick, standing over Andy.

Chandler groaned.  "What a lush.  Come on… we'll drag him across the hall, and then go upstairs without him."

"Fine, fine…" Rick said.  Between he and Mike, they pulled Andy up.  Chandler opened the door, and let them go first.  He looked one last time at Ross, who was peeling off his shoes with a look of disgust.  He felt pity… he didn't expect that.  

"BING!  Let's GO!" yelled Mike from the hallway, snapping Chandler back to reality.  He quickly shut the door on Ross, and followed Rick and Mike to the stairs.

Inside, Ross was holding his ruined shoes, not really knowing what to do with them.  "Damnit!" he swore again.

He looked around the room, and his eyes landed on the window.  He ran over, pulled up the window, and threw them out into the snow bank three stories down.  _'At least it's the back of the building,'_ he mused as he slammed the window back shut, and began to clean up the rest of Andy's mess.

…

The rest of the week, Ross tried his hardest to avoid Chandler.  Chandler had shown no more pity for him, and Ross hardly expected any, nor did he want any.  The moment Monday night had been just a one-time thing, in Ross's mind.  He expected no more.  After all, it wasn't as if he hadn't spent all of middle school and high school being made fun of for being slightly offbeat.  He did have a few friends then, though, and he still had a few friends now, but to most people, Chandler, he was just "that geek Ross Geller" and nothing more.

Late Saturday afternoon found Ross sprawled on his bed, working on a paper, and Chandler starting to get ready for a date with his girlfriend.  Chandler opened up his desk drawer and pulled out a cigarette.

Ross looked up.  "Oh, you are **not** smoking in here!" he yelled.

Chandler lit up.  "Well open the fucking window, then."  Chandler took a long drag, and blew the smoke at Ross, who started coughing.  Irritated, Ross got up and pulled two packs of cigarettes and a lighter out of Chandler's desk drawer.  

"What are you doing?" Chandler yelled.  Ross opened up the window and chucked them out into a pile of half-melted snow.

"Hey!  Those were my cigarettes!  What the hell did you do that for?"

"Don't smoke in the room!" Ross snapped, flopping back down on his bed.  

Chandler, angry that Ross would even touch his stuff, grabbed a pile of Ross's textbooks that were on his own desk, and threw them out the window, too.  

Ross jumped off the bed again and moaned.  "Those were two hundred bucks!  You asshole!"  He looked out the window to see them floating in a small puddle.

"Yeah, and those were my cigarettes!"

Ross turned back to face Chandler.  "Those didn't cost you two **hundred** dollars!"

"You shouldn't have been such an ass about the smoking!"

"You shouldn't have been such an ass!"

Chandler and Ross glared at each other for a second, before Ross jumped for some of Chandler's books.  He chucked them right out, and they landed with a smack on top of Ross's ruined ones.

"Oh, you **didn't**, you asshole!"  Chandler yelled.  Looking around, he saw Ross's paper on his bed.  He grabbed it.

"You wouldn't," Ross said, taking a step towards Chandler.  

"Oh, I would," Chandler replied, throwing it out the window.  The breeze caught it and papers flew all over the place.

"I've been working on that paper since the beginning of term!" Ross screamed.

"I don't care, you dinosaur freak!"

"How mature," Ross shot back, in monotone.  

"Hey, who threw the cigarettes out the window?"

"Who broke the no-smoking rule?"  Ross picked up a picture frame from Chandler's desk.  "Later, girlfriend," he said nonchalantly as he threw it out.  They both heard the sound of glass breaking.

"HEY!  She was hot in that picture."  Chandler picked up another book.  "The dinosaurs… what **really** killed them?  God, what a geek book."  It followed the same path as everything else, right out the window.

"That was signed by the author himself!  You ass!"

"You're the ass!"

Chandler's friend Andy picked that moment to walk into the dorm.

"What the hell are you fighting about?  I could hear you two all the way down the hallway!"

Ross and Chandler started yelling at each other at the same time, Chandler's "you threw my cigarettes out the window!" mixing with Ross's "you threw out my paper!"  

"STOP IT!"

Ross and Chandler both turned and glared at Andy.

"Chandler, you're girlfriend's waiting for you, so could you stop wasting your time with the loser, and get going!  Stacey's there, too, and you know how she gets."

Chandler looked at Ross.  "The ass threw all my shit out the window!"

"There's no smoking!" Ross yelled back.  

"Now you're both acting like my ex-girlfriend!" Andy yelled.

"Mindy?" asked Chandler.

"No, no, Mindy was the one that couldn't stop eating fast food and gained 20 pounds one week.  Carmen was the one that flipped out all the time."

"Carmen was hot."

"Try dating her."

"Why don't you try dating Liz, you fucker?"

Chandler sat down on his bed.  "Oh, no.  I'm not leaving my stuff all alone with… _him_!"

Ross sat down on his own bed.  "Like I'd trust you alone in here."

Andy threw up his hands.  "Chandler, you're being a dick!  You have a **hot** girlfriend waiting downstairs for you!  And instead, you're choosing to stay up here with dino freak?"

Chandler nodded.  "Sounds right."

Andy just stared at him.  "Chandler, living with Geller's messed with your head or something!"

"No, I just don't want to come home and find my shit in a snow bank!"

"Chandler!"

"Tell her I'll call her later."

"What, you don't even want her to come up?"

"Ross'll probably chuck her out the window, too."

Andy sighed.  "I think dino boy's rubbing off on you.  You're no fun, Bing."  He turned and left.  

Chandler immediately started in on Ross again.  "I can't believe you threw all of my shit out the window."

"I can't believe you smoke.  No… wait, yes I can."

"What do you mean by that?" Chandler asked, defensively.

Ross put his headphones on, and started gathered up what was left of his textbooks and notes, so he could try and recreate what he had written in his paper, without even bothering to answer Chandler's question.

Chandler looked at him angrily for a second, and then put on his own headphones.  _'He's not worth it,'_ he told himself.  _'He's not worth it.'_

…

Winter in New York State was not always a pleasant thing, and for Ross Geller, the latest blizzard made for a more hellish time than usual.  

They had both been spending lots of time in the dorm together, while not even talking to each other, except to yell at each other over who left that dirty place on the carpet, or whose toothpaste that was all over a chair.  

Ross had been able to re-purchase all of his ruined textbooks, and had been able to somewhat piece back together his dinosaur theory paper… enough, in fact, to earn an A from his hard-ass professor.  Chandler had seen the paper later and laughed, of course, but Ross didn't even bother himself to care anymore.  

One Saturday, late in February, found him humming while he was doing his reading assignments.  

"Will you stop that?" Chandler snapped, closing his book with a bang.

"If it annoys you, leave," Ross said simply, not even looking up from his page.

Chandler actually thought that sounded like a good idea.  "As long as my shit isn't in a snow bank when I get back," he warned Ross.

"Whatever.  Just leaving is good enough for me."

Chandler grabbed his phone and hastily punched in some numbers.  "Andy?"  He stood up and started digging through his clothes.  "It's Chandler… yes, it's Chandler Bing, you… what are you doing in fifteen minutes?"  He threw his shirt off while he juggled the phone and put on a clean one.  "Mullards?  Yeah… I'm driving over.  I need a drink."  He laughed.  "I'll probably be there in fifteen minutes… damn roads."  He hung up, and looked out the window, seeing more falling snow.  "Damnit," he muttered.

"Don't drive like a dick."

"I didn't know you were so concerned for me," Chandler said, sarcastically.

"I'm not… it's for the other idiots thinking that this is good driving weather."

Chandler rolled his eyes and picked his jacket up from the floor.  "Don't wait up."

"Don't kill anyone tonight."

Chandler left the dorm room, slamming the door on Ross.  

Ross sighed in relief and lay back on his bed, humming and reading.  Another Saturday night spent in the dorm came as no surprise to him, but in his mind, spending a Saturday night in the dorm without Chandler was so much better.  

…

The shrill sound of the phone ringing dragged Ross awake.  He looked at his watch—it was four thirty in the morning.  He had fallen asleep reading, he figured.  He blinked a few times, and reached for the phone.

"Hello?"

"May I ask who I'm speaking with?"

Ross sighed.  "Ross Geller.  May I ask who **I'm** speaking with?"  He didn't mean to say it as rudely as it came out, but, after all, they had woken him up.

"I'm with the Mercy Medical Center.  Do you know a Mr… Chandler Bing?"

Ross's face bunched up with annoyance.  Chandler had probably done something stupid at the bar, and now needed Ross to come pick him up.  _'Figures.'_

"Yes, I do.  He's my roommate," he said, irritated.

"We found this number in his wallet, and that's why we called.  Mr. Bing was in a serious accident tonight.  We haven't been able to reach any family members yet.  You said you were his roommate?"

Ross just nodded, before remembering that he was on the phone.  "Yeah," he replied.  The last thing he had ever expected to feel for Chandler Bing… sadness… was what he was feeling now.  "What can I do?"

"Try to find his parents… any relative, to be precise."

"How is he?"

"We can't release that until we get a hold of relatives… I'm sorry, Mr. Geller."

"Yeah," he replied, practically whispering.  He hung up the phone, and immediately went to Chandler's desk.  Chandler had never even mentioned his parents before… he had no idea who he was even looking for.  

He flipped through anything he could find… nothing.  No phone numbers… nothing.  No family pictures, even.  It was actually a depressing thought, to not even have any reminders of your family.

Ross supposed he'd just have to wait until morning, when the campus offices opened up, to get the right numbers.  But until then… he wasn't going to leave Chandler alone, no matter what he thought of him.  He didn't think anyone should have to wake up after an accident in the hospital alone.  Even if Chandler grimaced the moment he saw him… Ross wouldn't care.  He could at least say that he tried.

He quickly threw on a pair of old, ratty tennis shoes and his jacket.  As he ran out the door, he felt inside the pockets to make sure he had his keys and wallet.  

He really didn't expect there to be quite as much snow as there was… eight inches, at least, he guessed.  At least he had been lucky enough to score a spot in a rental parking garage… he wouldn't have to dig his car out, or anything.  

Just a few minutes later, he was on his way to the hospital.  The streets were quiet now… nobody would dare to venture out now; it was too icy, too snowy.  It was snowing pretty hard now… Ross was only going about ten miles per hour on the slick streets.  

The streetlights streamed down in triangular beams and illuminated the falling snow, making it look as if the streetlight itself was producing the snow.  Ross had always loved the way that looked when he was a kid.  He used to love sitting and staring out of the front window of his house, and watch the snow fall in the light of the street lights.  

But that was then, and now Ross had to concentrate on the roads so he could make it to the hospital in his own car—not in the back of an ambulance.  He was relieved that it was Mercy at least… it was near the college campus, so he wouldn't have to drive that far.  

The sight of the 12-story brick hospital was a welcome sight in the dark.  Ross pulled his car in carefully, and took a spot as close to the front doors as he could get.  He ran inside, and right up to the front desk.  He was greeted by an attractive woman behind the desk.  

_'Stay focused, Ross… stay focused,'_ he told himself as he asked about Chandler.

"Bing?  Chandler Bing?" she asked, not understanding the rush of words that had just shot out of Ross's mouth.

"Right."

"Let me check…" she said, and turned to the other counter.  Ross had to keep himself from staring at her backside the whole time she had her back to him.  She turned back to him.  "Are you family?"

He shook his head.  "I'm just his roommate.  I don't know how to contact his parents.  I don't even know who any of his family **is**."

She sighed.  "Well… I'll see what I can find out for you.  Go ahead and sit over in the waiting area.  Someone will come find you."

He nodded, and sat against the wall, making sure his seat faced the reception area.  At least he'd have an enjoyable wait….

It was nearly an hour before a young-ish looking doctor came into the waiting room.  "Mr. Ross Geller?" he asked, approaching Ross.  Ross stood up.  "Of course," he replied smartly.  _'I'm the only one out here… who am I supposed to be?'_

"I'm Dr. Hartman.  Now, I understand you're his roommate?"

"That's right."

"Now, I can't give you everything about your friend's condition, since we have been unable to reach any family, but I can tell you the basics."

_'Friend?  That'd be the day.'_  Ross chuckled to himself.

"He's in pretty serious condition.  He suffered mainly minor injuries… a broken arm, some cuts and bruises… but his head took a serious beating.  Right now, he's lapsed into a coma.  At this point, we're still positive he'll come out of it.  Visiting hours aren't officially until nine, but you can go in and see him for a little bit now if you want."

Ross nodded, and followed Dr. Hartman down a long hallway.  He may not have all the love in the world for Chandler Bing, but he would never wish a coma on the guy.  He actually was a little upset at the situation… Ross would have never guessed that'd he'd actually feel something for a guy like Chandler Bing.

He walked in, and could see Chandler, pale-looking, lying on a bed with a few tubes hooked up to him.  

"I'll leave you alone for a few minutes."

Ross nodded, and Dr. Hartman left.  He pulled over an ugly plastic chair, and sat down.  He really didn't have any idea what the hell he was doing there, sitting with a roommate, in a coma, who he didn't even like.

He did feel bad for Chandler, though… he wished he know how to reach his family, though… they deserved to know about this.

_'He wouldn't even be here tonight if it wasn't for your dumbass humming,'_ he thought bitterly to himself.  Rationally, he knew it really wasn't his fault, but he'd played a hand in it, and he didn't like that feeling.

He stood up.  He wanted to get out of there, for just a little bit… get something to eat at the nearby 24-hour diner, and call Andy and the rest of Chandler's gang.  He figured they would want to come down and see Chandler, too.

He stood there awkwardly, for a moment.  He still hadn't said anything… he'd heard people in comas could sometimes still hear people talking, deep down… but he didn't know what to say.  _'Hey Chandler, it's Ross, the roommate that you hate so much.  What's going on?'_  He shook his head.  Absolutely not.

Leaving the room, he took a deep breath and started back down the long hallway.

…

Ross seethed with anger as he walked into Raymond's, the local 24-hour diner.  He had called Andy from the hospital to let him know about Chandler, and he got blown off.  Ross **had** interrupted a late-night session with a girl, sure, but Chandler was his **friend**.  A friend who was in serious condition, and all the guy can think about is sex?  Ross was beyond angry.  

He sat down in the back, and immediately a waitress came up.  "What can I get you?"

"Two eggs, scrambled, and some strong coffee," he replied.

"Coming right up," she said, and walked briskly off.  Ross took his jacket off, and set it beside him in the booth.  

He just couldn't believe Andy.  If it were him with a friend in the hospital… he would have rushed right down.  But apparently, Andy didn't think enough of Chandler to even bother to seem worried.  _'What an ass.'_

The waitress returned with his coffee.  "Strong as we make it," she said with a smile.  He returned the smile gratefully, and took a sip.  "Your eggs will be done in just a couple minutes," she informed him, and left again.

Ross took another sip of the coffee, and set it down on the table.  The Coca-Cola clock on the wall read seven thirty.  Only an hour and fifteen minutes until visiting hours began.

Ross felt like he had some sort of obligation to Chandler.  If Chandler's parents weren't able to be reached, and his friends didn't care enough to come down… Chandler needed someone to be there.  He kind of wished it hadn't ended up being him, but he knew he couldn't do anything about that now.  At least today was Sunday, and he didn't have anywhere to be… Monday was the worst day of the week for him, with four classes and his job.

The waitress returned once more, carrying a plate of freshly scrambled eggs.  "Enjoy them, sir," she said kindly, and went back to the kitchen.  Ross inhaled the delicious smell of eggs, and dug right in.

…

Ross walked through the halls of the hospital once more, and into Chandler's room.  After leaving Raymond's, he had gone back to the dorm to get a little sleep and a shower.  He felt much better, now.

The nurses had conferred with Dr. Hartman, just before his shift had ended at six, and they had agreed to let Ross sit with him for half an hour at three different times of the day, if he wished, since no other family could be contacted.  Ross had gotten a number from the campus office, but the line had been disconnected, further aggravating Ross.  He supposed now that they'd have to wait until Chandler woke up before any family could be called.  He'd surely know where his own family was.  Ross had wondered what would happen if Chandler never woke up… it shook him a bit, and he refused to think that anymore.

He sat down in the same ugly chair that he had pulled over the first time he had been in.  He still was uncomfortable, and didn't know what to say… but at least Chandler wasn't alone.  And maybe, as time went on, he'd finally figure out what to say, something that would be more than just "hey, it's that guy you hate."  

So far, Ross hadn't heard anything else from Andy, or any of Chandler's friends… or his girlfriend, for that matter, which was the strangest thing to Ross.  

_'It's just not my problem anymore…'_

…

By nine in the morning on Monday, there was still no change in Chandler.  Ross had only sat with him the one time yesterday, so he reluctantly skipped out on his first class to sit with him again.  He had brought his book along, though, so he could at least read what he figured they'd be covering that day.

Ross was in the middle of a page on fossils found in Africa when he heard a stirring noise.  He looked up and saw Chandler blinking his eyes.  He stayed silent until Chandler looked over at him.

"Ross?" he asked, weakly, and with surprise in his voice.

"Yeah.  It's about time you woke up—I have a full class load today."

"But… it's…."

"It's Monday morning, Chandler.  You were in an accident, and have been unconscious until just now."

"Oh… God, I feel like shit."  He looked up at the ceiling.

"I'll let the doctors know you're awake, and then I'm going to go to class," Ross told him, putting his fossil book back in his bag and standing from the chair.

"Hey… Ross?"

"What?" he asked, impatiently.  He just wanted to get out of there now, before he got kicked out for fighting with an injured man.

"Why… why'd you come?"

Ross sighed.  "They called me first… no one could find a number for any of your parents… you should call, them, by the way… and I called Andy, and he blew me off because he was getting some, and no one else's even bothered to come… you didn't deserve to be alone."

Chandler snorted.  "Yeah, Andy was getting some with my girlfriend… well, ex-girlfriend.  I wouldn't have expected the pig to have shown up."

Ross really didn't know what to say to that.  He started walking toward the door.

"Ross?" Chandler asked, once more.

Ross turned his head.  "What now?"

"I just… thank you.  Thank you."

He nodded.

"You're not so bad, really…" Chandler said, trying for an apology of sorts.

Ross smiled.  "You weren't so bad comatose, either."

Chandler tried to laugh, but it came out mostly as a cough.

"You really shouldn't do that.  I'll have the doctor come check you out."  Ross opened up the door.

"Hey… come back later?"

Ross thought about it for a moment, before replying with a nod.  "Yeah," he said, and walked out to find a doctor.

END


End file.
